A New Year
by castingstarlight
Summary: AU. Damon just escaped Augustine when he runs into Elena, a nurse who is leaving her new years party. There is something about her, she feels worry for him and is drawn to him. Can she save him from himself and his past? Or is he too far gone. A Delena Love story :) Requested by SuckerForDelena Chaptered fic… for however long it takes to tell the story :) R&R
1. 1958

_January 1__st__, 1958. 1 am_

Elena held her clutch against her chest, attempting to let the cold January air sober her up before she returned home, plus the walk was nice, refreshing. Her hair was up and pinned tightly to her head, her lips red, and pearls resting against her clavicle. Her dress was t-length with a tight waist and a sweet heart neckline. The black lace sleeves reached black gloves. Her red heels clicked against the brick street. She exhaled, her breath forming a cloud around her.

She looked down to grab her cigarette from her bag and when she looked back up a man stood in the middle of the road in front of her. "Hello?" She called out.

The man was dirty, bare foot, blood covering his mouth and falling down the front of him. And even in the darkness she could see his blue eyes almost glowing from the moon and fireworks that exploded around them.

He tilted his head to the side. "Katherine." He breathed, his voice barely audible from where she stood.

She took a step toward him, touching her chest. "I'm sorry, I'm… I'm Elena." Her chocolate eyes searched his. He walked toward her, as if he didn't believe her. She stood very still, watching him. "Are you alright?" Elena asked softly as his fingers slid under her necklace, touching her pulse. A chill ran up Elena's spine at his touch, and she couldn't place why.

He frowned then mumbled, "Human."

Elena blinked and swallowed hard. "Sir?"

The man blinked and looked at her. "Who are you." He demanded.

"I already told you.. my name is Elena."

He closed his eyes, his fists balled. He was clearly in some sort of pain or distress. And Elena was a nurse, she hated seeing people like this. She reached her hand out to him, touching his cheek.

He tensed under her touch.

"Are you alright?" She asked softly. "What happened? You're covered in blood…"

He looked at her, as though she was the first person in his life to ask him how he was, like she was the first one to ever care for him. He swallowed and scowled. His eyes were distant, but she could see something deeper with in them. "Will you at least tell me your name?" She asked searching his eyes. "I'm a good listener."

"Damon." He grunted and grabbed her face. "Forget me." He compelled.

Elena shook her head. "No can do, Damon."

He frowned, unsure of how she managed to resist his compulsion. "Why?"

"Because when I see someone in trouble I have to help them."

Damon looked at her, wanting to feed on her, she looked like Katherine and he didn't know why, she was human. Innocent. And she reminded him of pain. He held her face in his hands searching her eyes. "I am trouble. You should help yourself."

Elena's heart was racing, there was something about this man. "Come back to my home. Let me clean you up. You are about my husbands size, I can get you some clothes." She said her voice quiet.

Damon looked at his clothes, they didn't bother him much but she was right, he could use a warm bath. "He won't mind?"

"I don't believe he will." Elena said looking down before glancing back up with a smile. "Come on, I need to asses your injuries."

Damon sat on the toilet in Elena's bathroom, watching her as she wiped blood off his mouth. "What exactly happened to you?"

Damon shrugged. "It was a party."

"Some party, you look like you've been kept in a dungeon." She said dipping the washcloth into the warm water again.

Damon smirked slightly at the sound of that, watching her neck pulse with her heartbeat. His own heartbeat speeding up the moment her bare fingers brushed his neck.

"I'll need you to take off your shirt." She said, sounding very much like she did in the hospital. She stood.

Damon eyed her, wondering what exactly she was trying to accomplish. "Do you always undress men off the streets when your husband isn't home."

Elena leaned against her floral wall papered walls and sighed. "He is dead."

Damon's eyebrows came together.

"He fought in Vietnam. He was drafted and he was killed." Elena said quickly. "Shirt, off." She said pointing to him.

Damon took his shirt off, and he watched her eyes examine him.

"You seem fine." She said her voice thick with confusion.

"As do you, for your husband dying."

"It's a new year." She said. "It is time to start over." She turned away and started a bath for him. "Here, wash up and I'll leave some clothes out for you." She turned and walked out of the bathroom, and just like that Damon was left alone.

He looked at his dirty face in the mirror, this woman who resembled so closely his sweet Katherine, was certainly not her. But just as appealing, and she had no one, she was alone in this big home. Something about that excited him as he slid out of his clothes and sunk into the warm water.

He thought about her for a moment but he felt a pang in his chest, he was attracted to her. She was gentle and sweet, and that was the moment he knew he would kill her. Because if he didn't there was a chance that he could feel something for her, and if he admitted to that then he would have to admit how he left Enzo for dead, and that would be too damn hard. So he got out of the bath and dried off, pulling the pants on that she had left him and the button up shirt, not bothering to button it. He showed up at her bedroom, she was in her slip, it was white and silk, lace covering her breasts.

He stopped in his tracks when she turned to look at him. Her hair was spilling down her back, and her face was innocent. She was taken aback by his presence. "You should shut your door." He said harshly.

"I'm not used to company." Her voice was unfazed.

There was something about her. She was strong, and brave. And she was beautiful.

She grabbed her robe and covered herself with it, tying the belt around her waist, closing herself off to him. She sat on the end of her bed. He walked to her and sat next to her. "You let a complete stranger into your home, into your bed room." He commented, his voice seductive. "I could hurt you."

"Nothing else can happen to me, Damon." She said not looking at him, before turning and facing him. "Besides, I don't believe you would hurt me."

Damon scoffed.

"You called me Katherine." Elena explained.

"So?"

"You obviously love her. I saw the way you looked at me, Damon. You aren't someone who hurts people." She said surely.

Damon made a face, and ran his fingers through his wet hair. "You don't know anything, Elena." His voice caught a bit on her name. "You're just lonely."

"Maybe." Elena admitted.

"You shouldn't be so trusting." He said sharply.

"Probably." Elena agreed. "But unfortunately we can try all we want to push our bad habits away, but we can never truly change who we are at our core, can we?"

Damon was quiet for a moment, his blue eyes staring holes into the wall in front of him, he knew she was right, and he hated it. He turned and grabbed her face hard, turning it away, exposing her neck.

"What are you doing?" She asked wincing a bit.

"Trying not to care." He admitted softly.

"Why?"

"I can't take the pain." He whispered. "There is only so much pain a man can take."

Elena was suddenly nervous, and she swallowed hard. "What are you going to do to me?"

Damon let his face transform, his eyes grew veins around them and his fangs slipped out from his gums. He let her look at him, and smiled as she gasped.

She reached out and touched his face. "What are you?"

"I'm a vampire." He growled low in his chest.

She stared at him for a beat, in complete silence, only the sound of their heavy breathing filling the room. "Is this supposed to scare me?" Elena asked quietly, standing.

"Doesn't it?" He said harshly standing with her.

Elena shook her head. "No."

"It should." Damon growled, grabbing her throat with his hands aggressively.

"Don't do this." She whispered before her scream cut through the quiet air.


	2. The Day After

**Authors Note:**

**Sorry that its been awhile :) I'm on Christmas break at the moment so I'm trying to update all my chaptered fics :) I hate leaving things off at a cliff hanger and thats kind of what I did before so I'm so sorry! Please Read and Review and I hope you like it :D It makes me really want to continue when I see reviews of any kind so take thirty seconds to write up your thoughts!**

**Disclaimer: i do not own TVD.. Sigh, only in my dreams.**

Elena opened her eyes the next morning, the ache in her neck, and the dried blood on her pillow being the only sign that Damon had even been there. She sat up slowly, wincing. She touched her neck, the wound was barely there. She touched her pounding head, she had clearly drank too much last night if she thought this guy had actually bit her. He was probably homeless, and he had probably stolen all of her valuables.

She swung her feet over the side of her bed and after cleaning herself up and downing some coffee she looked at herself in the mirror. "I look awful." She commented. She took out her makeup and began blotting it on her face. After making herself look somewhat presentable she got dressed and headed out the door.

Elena walked into the bar and grill to pick up her usual coffee when she saw him. He was beautiful just as she remembered him from the night before. She walked up next to him, her high heels clicking on the floor. She hit him slightly with her bag. "Excuse me."

Damon looked up at her and immediately was taken aback. "E..Elena I didn't expect you to be here."

"Be where? The place that I get coffee every day." Elena had her hands on her hips. "It's very rude to walk out on a lady, you know."

Damon's eyes examined hers, did she not take the hint? "Do you not realize I'm literally a horrible person."

Elena rolled her eyes. "No one is horrible. Damon."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He frowned taking a drink from his bourbon.

"It means that people aren't bad, they choose to be. And I think I can help you choose better."

"Why would you want to do that?" He asked, snark filling his voice.

"Because I think you're worth it." Elena said staring at his blue eyes then his mouth. "I can just feel it."

Damon looked down at his drink. She was very persistent. "Why should I let you?"

"Don't you want to feel again?"

"What makes you think I don't feel?"

Elena sat across from him leaning across the table. "I can see it in your eyes, you look mildly curious, but that's it."

_Can she really tell that just by looking at me? _Damon thought to himself nervously. This woman really could make him feel again, and that scared him shitless.

"And if I hurt you?"

"Then I guess I'll be hurt." Elena said simply.

Damon examined her finishing his drink. "What are the chances you'll leave me alone?"

"Little to none." Elena grinned at him.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Guess I'm in trouble then." He eyed her.

"Guess so." She started to stand. "So are you coming, or not?"

Damon stood. "Depends. Where are we going?"

"You'll just have to see." Elena said offering her arm to him.

He sighed and crossed his arms, defiantly.

Elena turned on her heels and began to walk.

Damon watched her and then decided, _what the hell_, he followed her.

She heard his footsteps behind her and smiled slightly, but she would never let him see how he affected her. This man that she barely knew, that surely had hurt her last night. She remembered those eyes, but she hadn't been afraid, like she had seen them before but couldn't quite place them. She swallowed hard.

Damon smirked slightly, the corner of his mouth raising. He could hear her heart pound in her chest, and for some reason that he couldn't place it didn't make him thirsty. Not like it usually would. Like he wanted to drink her in, metaphorically. He wanted to know her, even though it made him nervous. Part of him wanted to feel, but the other part knew that then he would miss Enzo and it may destroy him.

But she could pick him up. He knew she would have the ability, but he just needed to decide if this woman could possibly be worth it for him. He swallowed too.

"Here we are." She said gesturing to a small hole in the wall café.

"You're taking me to… lunch?"

"Nope." Elena said smiling. "For ice cream."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I understand, this is supposed to make me feel?"

"The best ice cream can transport you to another life." She explained going up to the counter and ordering them two of the 'house special'. She sat down at a small table for two.

"What flavor is this?"

"That's the best part.. they use food coloring so you don't know until you taste it…. "

Damon looked at the purple ice cream and glanced at Elena. "You first."

Elena closed her eyes and pressed her tongue to the ice cream, she smiled and instantly relaxed. "I feel… like the first time I went to the beach. The smile I could feel grow on my lips as the waves lapped my toes for the first time."

Damon watched her, a small smile growing on his face. Who the hell was this woman? He didn't know, she looked like Katherine but here she was, opening herself up to him. Licking this ice cream, not trying to be seductive but still being the sexiest and most beautiful woman he had witnessed in his long lifetime. He closed his eyes and stuck his tongue to the ice cream, and it was good. It tasted like sea salt and something else. It didn't bring him to a special memory, no flashes of emotion ran into his head.

All he saw was Elena. Her chocolate brown eyes smiling mischievously at him, like she could change his world. And the scary part was, she probably could.

"What do you think?" Her silky voice grazed his ears.

He opened his eyes to meet her big chocolate ones. "It was good." He shrugged licking it again, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Did it bring anything to the surface?" She asked curiously.

Damon shrugged. "Nope." He lied avoiding her eyes for the first time, he couldn't deny that he felt something for her, or at least he couldn't lie to her eyes. Maybe it was lust, or maybe something more.

"I was sure that'd work," Elena frowned, licking her ice cream again, this time getting some on the corner of her mouth.

"Hey you have something." Damon reached forward, wiping the ice cream from the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "Got it." He said sticking his thumb in his mouth sucking the ice cream off, their eyes connecting.

They were silent, staring at each other for a few moments.

"Well," Elena shook her head standing. "I guess we will have to try something else now won't we."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Your big plan crashes and fails and you already insist on another thing? Do you not ever give up?"

Elena shook her head. "Never."

Damon smirked slightly. "We will see about that."

"I guess we will." She took the ice cream from him and threw it away.

"Hey!" He shouted slightly.

"Your humanity is on the line, Damon. We don't have room for distractions. If it doesn't help, its in the trash." Her eyes were lit up with determination.

He watched her for a moment. "Okay."

"Really?" Elena asked, taken aback. "I expected you to fight me on it."

Damon shrugged. "What else am I going to do with my day."


End file.
